Lead by chief blaster Eric Kelly, AED takes pride in our in-depth technical expertise to minimize your risk for structures of all designs on, above, or below ground by utilizing cutting edge technology, continued education and vast experience. AED also performs conventional measures for demolition when explosives are not permitted.

Advanced Explosives Demolition Inc. approaches each and every contracting member as our partner. Our professionalism, flexibility, open communication, and desire to build a life long relationship will not only meet but exceed your expectations. We never pretend to know more than our clients. Our goal is to work in unison with the customer to provide a safe and timely resolution to any demolition problem.

Demolition has always depended on the experience and intuition of demolition contractors. As newer buildings and structures with complex and unpredictable structural systems begin to be demolished, safety and quality standards are requiring an additional analysis of demolition plans. Until recently, no engineering method existed that could accurately analyze structural behavior during demolition or deconstruction. But, that has all changed with the unveiling of a new approach for bringing safety, assurance, and clarity to demolition planning.

AED implodes Building 23 for Eastman Kodak

Bigger, louder and more magnificent; those were the sentiments of some people who watched Kodak Building 23 implode on Sunday, a day after Building 9 crumbled to the ground. Amid sounds of over 4,000 people whistling, cheering and clapping at 8:10 a.m., July 01 another piece of Rochester, NY history fell in even grander fashion.

"It seemed like Saturday, Kodak didn't want anyone to see the building go down," said Dan Olean of Rochester, who attended both implosions. "We weren't allowed to get a close view, trees were blocking the site and there was so much smoke, you couldn't see much afterward. "But (Sunday), it was absolutely incredible. You could feel each blast going off."

Crowds arrived hours before the implosion and were anxiously looking at their watches at 8 a.m., the intended time of the implosion. Nine minutes later, a siren bellowed from near Goodwill Street. Soon after, the 487,000-square-foot building quickly tumbled down section by section, with thunderous dynamite blasts echoing through the sky filled with yellow and blue balloons.

Eric J. Kelly of Advanced Explosives Demolition (AED) used more than 2,350 pounds of explosives to take down the eight-story building and smoke quickly disappeared from the site, which was slightly back from West Ridge Road just east of Dewey Avenue. Thirty five hundred people once worked in Building 23. They were engineers who designed equipment to manufacture Kodak products worldwide.

The last big local implosion before this razing was the December 1999 demolition of the 91-year-old Hotel Rochester building at West Main Street and Plymouth Avenue. It drew thousands of spectators in subfreezing weather.

"They told me to look at the third floor where some of the explosives were and I could see the building break apart. It was incredible," said Devante Higgins, 12, of Rochester, who lives a few blocks away on Dewey Avenue. "It was much better that Saturday. It made more noise and looked better coming down."

First-time viewers also were impressed. "I've seen it on television, but that was amazing," said onlooker Gail Billings of Greece, who brought her husband, Dan, and son D.J., 7. "I was debating whether to wake up so early because I didn't know whether it would be worth it. But I'm glad I came. It was better than I expected."

AED crews said the biggest problem destroying Building 23 was that it was built with steel support structures right next to concrete supports. AED worked with LeChase Construction Services and Bianchi Industrial Services on the project for Eastman Kodak.